


The Warrior and the Maid

by SheDragonOfTheWest



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Post-War, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 02:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4860083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SheDragonOfTheWest/pseuds/SheDragonOfTheWest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a war that lasted for way too long, the Targaryens are back in Westeros, ruling from the Iron Throne. Jaime Lannister is forced to go back to Casterly Rock and lick his wounds, far from the life he always knew. Injured, one-handed and lonely, Tywin's son begins to wonder if there's still a reason to go on. Will a certain wench help him see the light again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lion in a Golden Cage

The war was over. It was time to go back home… but not for those who have lost everything. Jaime Lannister had forgotten the meaning of the word home a long time before. He no longer had a place he was happy to return to. In the past few years, the closest thing had been the White Sword Tower, where he had lived along with his sworn brothers, as their Lord Commander. Now even that title had been taken away from him.

Since the dragons landed in the capital, they had burnt everything they found unnecessary to establish their new order. He had been a prisoner to them for two moons, until they had finally decided to spare him and send him back to Casterly Rock. They didn’t dare to trust the man who murdered their ancestor, and he wasn’t useful to them after losing his sword hand. So they had allowed him to live, far away from King’s Landing and the Kingsguard. Jaime would have rather been sentenced to death, as his sister was.

His sister… he still got goosebumps at the memory of the last time he had seen her. Drawn, almost hairless and tired, Cersei had shown herself in front of everyone at the Sept of Baelor, as proud as ever. She appeared to have aged ten years. He could still see everything vividly – the cold blade of the axe falling on her stubborn head, separating it from her body forever. But if there was a vision he would never be able to erase from his mind, it was her empty look. The former queen of Westeros hadn’t spoken a word or shown any resistance. She was defeated, too weak to fight. The fire within her was gone without a trace. And a part of Jaime had died with her.

His family was gone, and so was his sword, which had marked his identity for so many years. There was no reason for him to live anymore. Now all he had was an empty castle to spend the rest of his days – a golden tomb, but a tomb nevertheless. A huge wound across his right leg made him walk with a limp, and yet that was not what hurt most. Maesters would heal it every day and advise him on how to treat the infection, but he wouldn’t listen to them. If the gods still cared for him, they’d let the infection worsen and finally some fevers would take him away for good.

“You need to eat. You’ll get sick if you go on like this.”

Ironically, that wench seemed to be the only friend he had left in the world. Brienne of Tarth had volunteered to take him to Casterly Rock and ended up staying there for a few days as an unwanted guest. After that, she would go back to the capital to be knighted by the dragon queen herself, who had offered her to be part of her Queensguard. Yet the woman was probably not as dumb as she seemed at first sight; she had most likely sensed his darkest thoughts, and that was the reason why she refused to leave his side.

“Jaime, please” he heard her beg. She didn’t even call him Kingslayer anymore “You haven’t eaten for days.”

Indeed, he didn’t even have the energy to feed himself. Perhaps that was yet another attempt at self-destruction. Although he could feel Brienne’s sincere worries, he didn’t react. He merely continued looking ahead inexpressively.

“I’ll force feed you myself if I have to.”

 

She was definitely capable of that. The maid of Tarth had been through a lot, but two things about her hadn’t changed one bit: Her tough looks and her obstinance. Reluctantly, he took the fork to his mouth. After a few bites, he refused to continue eating. At least, he had done his part. Hopefully she’d leave him alone for a while. Yet the gods wouldn’t even grant him that simple wish. Before retiring to his chambers with a muttered goodbye, the woman stopped him.

“Let me see your wound” she asked.

The Lannister man shook his head. Ignoring her, he stood up and got ready to leave the room. She stood in his way.

“Show me.”

“What for?” he replied in a tired voice.

“I heard you didn’t let the master heal you yesterday and didn’t do it yourself either.”

“I’m alright” he lied “I don’t need any more healing.”

The wench frowned. Her eyes, the only beautiful part of her, became a lot smaller when she made that face. In any other occasion, he would have used it as an excuse to make fun of her. “Don’t look at me like that, wench, it makes you uglier.” However, he wasn’t in the mood for that. He groaned in frustration as he difficultly rested his leg on the empty table. Brienne examined the limb and gasped.

“It’s still infected” she stated the obvious “And it’s probably getting worse.”

“Are you a maester now?” that was the only sarcastic comment he allowed himself.

Without paying attention to his retort, she hurried out to find some servants and asked them to bring a cloth and the concoction the maester had recommended applying on the wound. Jaime sighed. It was odd that, after almost a lifetime without a mother, someone was determined to play that role in his adult years.

As he had expected, the wench immediately started curing his leg. Jaime rolled his eyes inwardly, but he didn’t struggle or tried to escape. He already knew by now how stubborn the soon-to-be knight could be.

“I don’t know why you push away anyone who tries to help you” the woman protested through clenched teeth, holding a piece of bandage in her mouth “This attitude will send you straight to the grave.”

“I’m on the right track, then. Who cares?”

Brienne froze and looked up. Those blue eyes could be as expressive as they were transparent.

“Who cares?” she repetead, outraged “ _You_ should be the one who cares!”

“Why? Life is overrated, anyway.”

“How can you say that? After all you’ve been through! You lost your hand, survived a war, a new regime… haven’t you learnt a thing? Life is there to put us to the test, to teach us to fight without giving up no matter what. And you’re going to let yourself drown like a coward? Jaime, you might have lost a lot of things you cared about, but there’s always a reason to go on. Always-“

She’d never finish that phrase. The blond man’s lips captured hers and forced her to stop. At first, she wanted to push him away and asked him if he had lost his mind, but her body wouldn’t respond. She surrendered to the kiss fully, knowing that she had been dreaming of that moment for a long time.

The lion, on the other hand, felt something similar. His impulsive display of affection had begun as a desperate attempt to silence her, to distract her from her speech. Nevertheless, sensing how the maid responded to the kiss and kissed him back shyly, something deep inside him seemed to awaken… something that had been sleeping for many years.

Not even Cersei had made him feel like that in a long time. He might have been once in love with her, but his relationship with his sister had turned into something very different from love in her last years. She was a need, a bad, harmful habit he had grown so accustomed to that he couldn’t imagine his life without it. He used to think that that was the closest thing to love he would ever experience. Now… now he knew he was wrong.

In that kiss, that simple touch of his lips and tongue brushing against the woman’s, was everything they had ever shared. The secrets he had confessed to her, their fights, the moments of understanding, their gratitude after saving each other’s lives unknowingly… For the first time in years, Jaime Lannister felt alive again and Brienne of Tarth felt beautiful.


	2. Ten years later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many things have changed since that kiss...

The blunt swords collide in the yard at Casterly Rock. Two young knights fight tirelessly under the summer sun. Hits and pants are their music as they dance around the area, chasing each other. The smaller one loses his balance and falls on his backside on the ground. Victorious, his opponent points the sword to his neck mercilessly. Then the winner laughs and holds out one hand to help him up. Dropping the sword, she takes off her helmet to reveal a long blond mane, tied into a long braid. Little Selwyn, future heir to the Rock, accepts his sister’s hand and stands up. As he takes off his helmet and wipes the sweat on his forehead with his tiny hand, his mother joins them, cheering enthusiastically. Brienne unsheathes _Oathkeeper_ and shows her daughter Joanna a new move while she explains it with words. The 9-year-old girl listens carefully and imitates her with her training sword. She’ll be a great warrior someday.

From the window, Jaime watches the scene proudly. He can’t help a little envious because he can’t take part in such games anymore, but he loves seeing them having so much fun. Besides, the looks of admiration he gets from his children whenever Brienne talks about their father’s achievements in his youth make him feel as though he still were the renowned knight he once was.

Selwyn sees him and runs to him. His father lifts him up tenderly and compliments him on his fighting skills. He holds him with his golden hand and tickles him with the other. His little boy’s laughter is almost infectious. He has the same eyes and straw-colored hair as his mother, but at the age of six he’s already as bright and curious as Tyrion used to be. He then catches his wife’s glance, who takes a moment to smile at him before focusing her attention back on Joanna.

Many things have changed since that kiss. Wounds healed, not only the physical ones. Both Tywin Lannister’s son and the maid of Tarth left their insecurities and armors behind to finally acknowledge their feelings. He wedded her on the first day of spring, not before sending a raven to King’s Landing announcing that the first female member of the Kingsguard ever had changed her mind. And when the maester announced a few moons later that the new lady of Casterly Rock was with child, all the losses, from Brienne’s knighthood to Jaime’s sword hand, seemed small and distant.

And that is how those two people found what they never expected: Happiness. Always rejected, always different from everyone around, they had come to think that it was just a mirage they were not made for. Now, with their quiet life in the Rock with their two children, they finally understand that they had just been searching in the wrong places.


End file.
